4-year-old Summoned for Jury Duty, Excused for Preschool

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Four-year-old Damien Shrader of Swoyersville loves playing with his toys. He likes playing with his friends and riding his bike, too. ...

Author: Sarah Buynovsky

Published: 8:36 PM EDT April 17, 2018

Updated: 8:37 PM EDT April 17, 2018

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- Four-year-old Damien Shrader of Swoyersville loves playing with his toys. He likes playing with his friends and riding his bike, too.

"He's always been a very serious child, but I didn't think he was quite ready for that kind of a thing, there,” laughed his mom, Desiree Shrader.

"That kind of thing" is a summons for jury duty.

It showed up this week in Damien's great-grandmother's mailbox, ordering the preschooler to show up at the Luzerne County Courthouse.

When asked if he understood the summons, Damien sweetly shook his head no.

Damien's own mom has never been summoned for jury duty, and Damien has only ever gotten one other letter in the mail: it was from Santa.

"I was curious to know how they got his information and decided that he needed to come and make some kind of decisions here,” said Desiree Shrader.

Damien's parents went to the Luzerne County Courthouse Tuesday and explained the situation.

There were a few laughs and the little boy was granted a formal excuse, although the court administrator told Newswatch 16 he is certain sure Damien would make "a fantastic juror" in 15 years or so.

"They formally excused him because he has preschool that day. We also tried to make sure they don't request his two-year-old brother come either. We'd prefer to have them wait a little while for jury duty,” laughed Desiree Shrader.

The court administrator believes Damien’s name and information were mistakenly added to list of potential jurors from tax documents his great-grandmother filed after buying him stocks.